She Likes to Watch

Bored of those holiday blockbusters?
The Palm Theatre, San Luis Obispo’s sole arthouse movie theater, has a solution: thoughtful documentaries, indie comedies and dark dramas.
“The Rape of Europa,” a stunning new documentary about the fate of European art during World War II, opens this week.
Narrated by Joan Allen, “The Rape of Europa” chronicles the Nazis’ 12-year campaign to plunder Europe’s treasures, looting museums and robbing countless priceless artworks while destroying others deemed “inferior.”
Countries sought to hide their most prized pieces while soldiers, art historians and curators battled to save centuries of Western culture.
Filmmakers Richard Berge, Bonni Cohen and Nicole Newnham examine the aftershocks half a century later, using newsreel footage, eyewitness accounts and interviews with historians.
With rave reviews from The New York Times, The Boston Globe and Variety magazine, “The Rape of Europa” could be in the running for a best documentary Oscar.
Showtimes at the Palm Theatre, 817 Palm St. in San Luis Obispo, are 4 p.m. and 6:45 p.m. weekdays, and 1:15 p.m., 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. The film’s runtime is 1 hour, 57 minutes.

Also playing at the Palm:

“Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead”
Two brothers plot to rob a mom-and-pop jewelry store … owned by their own parents. Another dark, complex drama from auteur Sidney Lumet.

“Bella”
A single day in New York City transforms three lives: a waitress, an international soccer star-turned-cook and his brother.

“The Darjeeling Limited”
Three feuding brothers search for spiritual enlightenment in India in Wes Anderson’s quirky new comedy.

“Into the Wild”
The fascinating true story of Christopher McCandless, who, after graduating from college in 1992, abandoned his possessions and hitchhiked to Alaska to live in the wilderness.

For more information, call 541-5161 or visit www.thepalmtheatre.com.

– Sarah L.

Sick of summer blockbusters?
Local moviegoers can trade big-budget special effects for inspirational films about the bigger picture, thanks to HopeDance Magazine’s ongoing series.
This month, HopeDance FiLMs will screen “Living Luminaries,” “Sophie Scholl” and “Encounter Point” at the San Luis Obispo City County Library, 995 Palm St. in San Luis Obispo.
All screenings are at 7 p.m.
The first film, “Living Luminaries: The Serious Business of Happiness,” plays tonight.
Featuring interviews with Eckhart Tolle, Marianne Williamson and others, the documentary addresses questions about God, purpose and happiness from a religious and spiritual perspective. A $10 donation is suggested.
“Sophie Scholl: The Final Days,” which will be screened July 24 at 7 p.m., chronicles the final six days of Germany’s most famous World War II activist. The film follows Sophie Scholl, a member of anti-Nazi resistance group The White Rose, from her arrest to her interrogation by the Gestapo, her trial and sentence.
The 2005 film won several international awards and an Oscar nomination for best foreign-language film.
“Sophie Scholl” will be screened July 24 at 7 p.m., with a suggested donation of $5 to $10.
On July 30, local filmgoers can explore the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from the front lines with “Encounter Point.”
Among the subjects of the documentary are a former Israeli settler, a Palestinian ex-prisoner, a grieving Israeli mother and a wounded Palestinian brother. Together, they launch a grassroots movement for nonviolence and piece.
HopeDance encourages a $10 donation.

For more information, visit www.hopedance.org/.